When to use it
Counter cards, receipts, table tents, the back of a business card, a sticker on a delivery van, a thank you card in a parcel, a sign by the door as people leave. Reviews drive local search ranking, and the biggest reason happy customers do not leave one is that finding the right place to type takes too long. A code fixes that.
The example code on this page points at getqrstudio.app, because we do not encode third party businesses here. Yours will follow the pattern above.
How it behaves on phones
iPhone: the Camera app shows a banner naming g.page. Tapping it opens Safari, which redirects to Google Maps with the review box open if the app is installed, or to the web version if not. A sign in prompt appears if the person is not logged in to Google.
Android: most Android scanners open the link and Android hands it to Google Maps, where the person is usually already signed in, so the star rating appears at once. That is the smoothest path this type has.
Common mistake
Encoding a link to your Google Maps listing instead of the review link. The person lands on your profile and has to find the reviews tab, scroll to Write a review, and tap. Half of them give up. The /review link opens the box directly.
Gotchas
Finding the ID. The g.page link is generated by Google for verified Business Profiles. You cannot build it by hand from your business name. Get it from the dashboard’s Ask for reviews button.
Signed in required. Reviews are tied to a Google account. iPhone users who are not signed in to Google in Safari have a login step. There is no way round it and it is a good thing; it is what makes reviews hard to fake.
Google’s policies. Do not offer incentives for reviews. Do not gate, meaning do not filter out unhappy customers before showing the link. Do not put a review station in your shop for customers to use on your device. Any of these can get your reviews removed or your profile suspended.
Receipts. Thermal receipt printers are low resolution, around 200 dpi, and the paper fades. Keep the payload short, print at least 2 cm, use level M rather than H so the modules stay large, and test a real receipt with a phone before rolling it out.
Size. https://g.page/r/ plus a 20 character ID and /review is about 44 characters, which fits version 4 at level M, 33 modules wide. The search.google.com form needs version 6 or 7.
The ID can change. If your Business Profile is merged, moved or re-verified the link may change. A dynamic code that redirects to the current link protects printed material.
Try it in QR Studio
QR Studio has a Google review type. Paste the link from your Business Profile and it builds the code, with your logo in the centre and a “Leave us a review” frame if you want one.
Print advice
Level M. A counter card is scanned from about 30 cm, so 3 to 4 cm works. A receipt code should be at least 2 cm and placed where the paper is not torn off. A window sticker read from the pavement wants 8 cm or more. Print “Scan to leave a Google review” and your business name beside the code so people know what they are being asked to do.
Try it yourself
Upload a photo of a printed receipt and see whether the code still reads after the thermal paper has done its worst.